Ok, I had heard the animatronics in this ride were top-notch, so I convinced my family to ride it. The pre-show was very cool, nothing extraordinary. The main show SUCKS! Yes, the Stitch animatronic is fascinating. But the rest of the ride is not. You hear him take someone's chili dog, eat it, and then he burps. The whole room smells horrible! Later, it feels like he's jumping on your restraints, and something tickles the back of your neck. You should see it for the animatronics, but don't make anyone else go.

Yeah... I liked it better when it was Alien Encounter... the alien was very cool... (and that's the character the effects were originally designed for)... but... whatever...

When I first saw it years and years ago, it was the animatronic scientist in the first room that floored me... I hadn't seen that series of animatronic before... Now there's been quite a few in the parks (think: Wicked Witch, TimeKeeper, Hopper, etc)... Anyone with a technological bent might want to google "A-100 animatronics" up before going to the parks... it was an interesting engineering breakthrough and you can definitely see a difference... For the rest of us, it's just pretty darn cool to see...

Any Stitch fans out there?

P.S. I always hold my breath for the chili dog in Stitch and the skunk in Journey to Imagination until it vents out... Ick!!

I am a *huge* Stitch fan and this attraction is a let down. About a year ago, I wrote a rant about it, which I shall regurgitate here! :P

"IMO, the main problem with Stitch's Great Escape is the fact that they took an existing ride and made some poor changes to incorporate a new character.
The original ride worked well as it was (I found it terrifying :p). Obviously someone said "OMG we've got this great new character that we need to cash in on, lets shove him into an attraction quick!!!" And it just doesn't work!

Even when Stitch was bad, he was never really scary - not like the original alien which was slightly reminiscent of the Alien film (was to me anyway!). Ok, yes, Stitch causes lots of havoc, but sitting in the dark while he runs around is quite dull really. And the chili dog....urghhh.... if you've been on Mickey's Philharmonic Symphony (or whatever it's called) there's some wonderful use of smells in there - the blueberry pie is still with me to this day. But I can't think why they decided the chili dog was a good idea.

I'm so annoyed about Stitch's Great Escape. I think Lilo & Stitch has the potential to create a wonderful *new* attraction. Personally, I would have liked something along the lines of Stitch being on Earth, halfway between good & bad, running around destroying things... perhaps with a conclusion to the attraction that he learns how to put things right.
I have a wonderful image of something like the Peter Pan ride, where we get to fly over San Francisco, only for Stitch to come along and stomp all over it! But that's just one idea.
We definately need something visual - come on, the film was gorgeous with that Hawaiian scenery - there's so much potential for a visual feast and something actually fun!!!!"

That's interesting though. I read something recently that said psychologically, kids often develop their aversion to certain smells later in life... that there are a lot of smells that don't bother you until you are older and you "know" they are something gross. But maybe coffee is adversive because it is bitter -- and we are somewhat biologically cued to avoid bitter things because bitter (ex. berries, and weeds) often equals toxic. Maybe that's why kids hate the coffee smell while adults become accustomed to it or even enjoy it? I love psychology...

Having the stink bug smell like coffee, though is a great idea: you choose a smell that while somewhat unwelcome, is not adversive. I am adverse to the chili dog smell because it kindof smells like bile... what if it actually smelled like chili dog (with home-cooked chili), or a hot dog with ketchup... What if the skunk on Imagination just smelled like a pungent perfume, rather than trying to replicate the experience of being sprayed by a skunk (it is, after all, a ride about imagination, so who says that the smell has to be realistic?).

Smell and touch seem to be a lot bigger issue with guests than sight and sound... How do you avoid offending the senses or breaching someone's idea of personal space? Some people hate being sprayed with water or being touched on the neck... Just like some avoid offensive smells... So how do you make sure not to cross the line and create a bad experience for a moderate portion of your guests, while still involving almost all of the senses -- except taste, of course)?

Dont forget spaceship earth, they have the campfire smells which are very pleasant, at least to me...some smells i think help to bring back memories whether they be good or bad. Its amazing how you can smell a certain something and it trigger a memory of a time or place years back, its like your brain never forgets a smell, and its not always so easy to remember the other senses. I love attractions that involve more than sight and sound, but sometimes they can over do it i think. I was on an attraction years ago i THINK at kings island that had a 4d theater and they really overdid the water spray effect. And speaking of stitch, ive only been on that attraction once and the smell was enough for me haha. but sometimes it is fun to play with different smells to get the audiences reaction...

I was just in Disneyland this weekend, and the Monsters Inc. ride uses a delicious lemon smell for the Yeti's snow cones. I like the fruity smells best I think. I also like when the smells just add atmospherics without being too obvious or offensive.

From reading the other peoples thoughts, I think that I would go with them because of there being so much people saying that they did not like it that much. So I wanted to say what I would make the attraction. I would want to make the attraction a roaller coaster where you get to go under water. There would be a glass cover that COMPLETELY covers you. The ride would start out smooth. It would start out as a dark ride. You would get to see the house of Stitch and Lilo. You would see the family. Then you would shoot out like a rocket ship! But look out for the bad guys! Your ship will be hit by a laser and you will be falling into the water! You will see coral, seeweed and more! Then you see an animatronic of Jumba and Sandwich(the bad guys) being distroyed! And that is the end of one of my dreamrides.